Hold Congress Accountable

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Find activists, groups, and events right in your own neighborhood. Join FreedomConnector to get involved and learn more about key issues threatening our economic freedom. Whether you’re looking for like-minded people, trying to boost your existing group’s impact, or simply trying to stay up on current events, FreedomConnector is the place to start. See what’s happening in your state today!

Former State Senator Hugh Webster, the Republican candidate for North Carolina's 13th Congressional District was proud to sign FreedomWorks' pledge against earmarks on Thursday, March 6.
"'Earmarking,' the practice by which members of Congress divert taxpayer funding to special projects outside of the normal competitive and merit-based review process, has grown out of control and is open to waste and abuse," the pledge states.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has reserved the Senate Swamp (the outside park next to Russell Senate building) from 11-12 on Tuesday, March 11th to hold a rally on the DeMint-McCain-McCaskill earmark moratorium proposal.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has reserved the Senate Swamp (the outside park next to Russell Senate building) from 11-12 on Tuesday, March 11th to hold a rally on the DeMint-McCain-McCaskill earmark moratorium proposal.

Here are some of the interesting articles I came across this week.
Gore Invests $35 Million for Hedge Funds With EBay Billionaire (Bloomberg) - Entrepreneur Al Gore increased his networth by at least 30 fold in 8 years (from $3 million to over $100 million). What about you?
Carlyle Fund Misses Margin Calls (New York Times) - A $21 billion hedge fund with 99 percent of AAA-rated US agency mortgage securities could not meet $37 million margin calls. That's what happens when you invest with borrowed money.

Currently the House is marking up H.R. 1108, the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act," in the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. As with the Senate version of the bill, the House bill includes language that allows the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to impose new "user fees" to cover the costs of its expanded regulatory program. However, language added in a manager’s amendment expands the amount of fees that may be collected by the FDA to offset a projected loss of excise tax revenue resulting from the program. At this point, the user fee would no longer be a "fee for service' that covers the agency’s costs—it would be a new tax.

So, Kevin Mannix announced today that he's running for Congress. This is going to be fun.
For all the national media and activists coming to BlueOregon today to learn more about Kevin, here's a recap: He's a former Democrat who became a Republican when his brand of right-wing politics was no longer welcome in our party. He's a four-time statewide loser (twice AG, twice Governor) who seems addicted to building prisons through ballot measures.
But Kevin's always had trouble with money. And it's liable to only get worse running for Congress.

Currituck County will aid Camden County in contesting a proposed Navy airfield that would send jets over Moyock, Currituck's most populated community and an area officials see as an emerging industrial hub.
Last month, Camden County hired Raleigh law firm Poyner & Spruill, which has assigned to the case five attorneys with expertise in military affairs, government administration and environmental law, said John Morrison, attorney for Camden.
"We want a place at the table now while the study is going on," Morrison said.

The so-called Stimulus Bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush contains a provision to nearly double the size of implicit taxpayer guarantees given to home mortgages. The WSJ is reporting on the quick implementation: